Dog food??

Question

In your opinion what is the BEST dog food ?? and why?

Answer 1

I personally feel a raw diet is best. Next on my list would be Innova Evo, followed by Nature's Variety, Canidae and Natural Balance.

I feed raw because it is what dogs were designed to eat. I find my dogs are much healthier, their teeth are bright white and healthy, they are full of energy, and bonus for me, their waste is minimal and what waste there is dries up and crumbles in the sun in a day or two.

The commercial foods I listed, use human grade ingredients and contain no grain. They come as close to a raw diet as you can get with kibble.

Here are the criteria I use when looking for a high quality food:

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 2

I think the best one is Natural Balance. In the wake of all the recalls, researching the ingredients in the foods is not a bad idea. Most of what is being recalled contains wheat and rice. You may want to avoid those foods for awhile. While you are looking at ingredients, avoid foods with by-products. They are parts from the animal aside from the actual meat. There is no reason to have it in the food and usually indicates the food is very cheap. Corn is also an ingredient I like to avoid.
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance has varieties made with potatoes or barley instead of wheat and rice. This is also an excellent choice for dogs that have typical food allergies. You can find the food at Petco.

Answer 3

im not sure anymore, with all this going on about the ruined pet food, the sick dogs, cats, the dead dogs and cats, im afraid to buy my dog anything anymore, so at the moment, the best food is no food or homemade food, and i think you would go with the latter. um, look at the lables, that's all i can say, high protein diets are good for anydog, no matter what there life is like. um, look at the ingredients, this is what i do, first make sure there is plenty of protein, and the food is worse when the first thing on the list is corn, wheat, wheat gluten or any type of carbohydrate, if the first thing on the list is a real meat, i.e. beef, turkey, lamb or lamb meal, chicken, or beef and bone meal. if the second product on the ingredients list is meat that is fine too. but the further down on the list, the less healthy and the more excersice your dog would need to burn it off, so if you have a high energy dog like a border collie, that runs and runs around a pasture all day great, but always make sure they get meat. make sure there is no sugar or anything along that lines, that stuff is horrible for dogs and cats alike, it clogs up there digestive system as well as the fact that it constipates them. good brands would be anything that has not been recalled, even if something from that brand name has been recalled DO NOT BUY IT!!! because authorities are starting to suspect that the poisons were put in purposly.

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html
this website is worked on constantly, whenever there is a new pet food added to the list, they have it, instantly. they are ontop of it. check out this website to get information on the recalled brands and other helpful information.

http://www.warreneckstein.com/tips/bestpetfood.html
this website tells about generic brands or name brand dog food, tells all about the goods and bads about the name brands and about what is in the popular dog food brands.

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/pet-food
this website gives you lists of pet foods that you can make at home as well as pet treats, this is by far the best way to go, make your own, no dangerous foods, no bad fillers, no risk of your dog getting all the germs from pet food factories, men at pet food factories are not required to wash there hands after using the restroom at all.

http://www.healthfood4pets.net/page9.html
this website will tell u all about the dangers in pet food fillers, from the chemicals used to the damage it can do to your pet

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/nbasics.html
this will give you all the needed information about the nutrition that your pet needs from his pet food, so the next time you buy food you can know what to look for.

i know it is long, but i really want to help, this is a dangerous matter, pet food, so i hope this helps, Kate

Answer 4

home cooked, balanced for canine diet that is made of whole foods, human quality. Someone I know worked for one of the premium food companies and they taught their sales people that the food was human grade when in fact it was not. These companies are selling food that is tainted and it isn't just recently.
It's not that hard to do, and costs about as much as buying premium food does but the dogs are healthier as a result. There is not enough quality control (up to human standards) and even the hoity toitiest foods, many of them, get some of their products from common distributors.
The diet I feed mine is one a friend has fed her dogs for four mos now and they are thriving when they had all been on prescription diets. Another Vet gave her the diet plan and it isn't anything unusual.

Answer 5

Ol' Roy is the shittiest food known to man. This is the food we make fun of all the time. It is made with shitty ingredients. Did you know that companies like Ol' Roy are not prohibited from adding any meat source they want in their food, and it's possible that ground up dogs that are euthanized from shelters could be a "meat source" in your dog's food? I still can't believe this and that a company would actually do this, but it's true.

The best quality foods are expensive, but your dog will eat less of it because more of it is able to be digested. A higher quality food will decrease your vet bills as well because the dog is healthier. Good quality foods include Eagle Pack, Innova and Merrick among many others. If you can find it in the grocery store, you shouldn't buy it unless you don't care about your dog's nutrition or if you can't afford a high quality dog food.

Answer 6

I feed my #8 Chihuahua's, "Canidae All Life Stages", and they all love it. They are all different ages. It's available in 5 lb., 20lb, and 40 lb. bags. It's all natural and made with Superior Quality, with no corn, wheat, Soy, Grain Fractions, Fillers, or By Products and is Naturally Preserved. If you type"Canidae All Life Stages", in your search bar, it brings up many sites you can go to that have all the information you need. You can buy it, in any pet supply, and I think the price is alot more reasonable, that alot of the other high quality foods. I pay $35.00 for a 40 lb bag. It also lasts alot longer, because they don't eat as much, and they still get all the nutrients they need, to remain healthy and happy dogs.

Answer 7

For those who said Ol' Roy -that food has been recalled... Why are you still feeding it?

Now, to answer the question... I don't really know what food is best. Especially now with all the contamination going on. I used to swear by Natural Balance. They use great ingredients, but since one of their formula's has been recalled, I really question their quality control, which I am guessing is poor, since the recall and since I recently found out it is owned by Diamond. And even though the particular NB formula I was feeding has not been recalled, I do not want to take any chances, so I have discontinued feeding NB for good, or at least until they are owned by a better company.

I guess if I had to make a choice, I would say RAW is the best diet, but I have to idea how to balance out the protien and mineral content to make it a safe diet for my giant breed pup, and I do not want to take the chances.

So, now I am trying out a new food called VF Complete. It has great ingredients and I am satisfied with it so far. But as for it being the best, I don't know if it is. I couldn't say, since I have not tried every food out there. But it is a good food, and it is WAY better than Ol' Roy or Beneful. I can tell you that for sure.

Answer 8

I feed my babies Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potato Formula. I used to feed them Purina, until I looked at the ingredients!! Now, I won't feed my pets anything with by-products or fillers. Since I switched their food, their coats are shinier, and they are much more energetic! Although Wellness costs a good bit more than Purina, they eat alot less (and poop alot less!) because the food is more nutritious.

Answer 9

my mother, feed the dogs rice ,and chicken, with vegetables added in there. the dogs love it , and its good for them , she uses a rice coker , but pre boils the chicken, adds the rice , and veggies, and occasionally an egg to the cooker . she also adds the chicken (thats been preboiled) and runs the cooker , stirs it all up , lets it cool off , and feeds the dogs. they love it so much that she has to feed each dog in a separate room to prevent fighting over the food...

Answer 10

Urban Wolf dry organic mix that I mix up with hamburger. It maintains my dog's weight better than kibble, which fattens one and constipates the other. Also, with all these food recalls, I am grateful I am feeding human grade food.